Jar closure



C. R. KEERAN.

JAR CLOSUHE.

APPLICATION man ocT. 27. 1917.

l )$425,594. Patented. Aug. 15, 1922:,

staar erstes.

CHARLES R. KEERAN, OIE* CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

JAB CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. i5, ieee.'

Application led October 27, 1917. Serial No. 198,808.

To' all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES R. KEERAN, a citizenf of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of l nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AJ ar Closures, of which the following isa specification.

The present invention has to do with improvements in closures for vacuum preserving jars and the like, such as are Vused* for preserving fruits and food products.- `In the use of these jars, the exterior atmospheric pressure resulting from a partial vacuum within the receptacle serves to hold the cover or closure in place. The pressure' thus exerted will,of course, depend upon the degree of perfection through which the vacuum is established, and also the extent or area of the surface of the cover which is acted upon by the air pressure. If it be assumed that an air pressure of twelve pounds This is, of course, a very considerab-le item, andit will readily be appreciated-that the n cover cannot -be easily removed without breaking the vacuum. Ordinarily there'is used as part of the closure a gasket of rubb'er or suitable compressible material which is interposed between the cover and the edge of the jar or receptacle. By introducing a knife or other suitable instrument between the cover and the gasket, an opening can be produced through which the airwill enter Y the jar, thereby breaking the vacuum.

While it is theoretically a simple matter to relieve the vacuum in the manner just explained, it becomes a more difiicult opera-x tion in practice by reason o f the fact that it is quite desirable, and in many cases necessary, to provide a iiange either on the cover or in conjunction therewith, which `iange encircles andencloses the gasket to a greater or less extent, thereby preventing. the introduction of a knifel blade or other instrument inthe manner above explained, so long as the flange remainsin the way.

Ones' of the objects of the present invention is to so ,construct the 'closure in those cases where aflange is used, either'on the cover or in conjunction therewith, that the knie or other object may be conveniently introduced between the cover and the gasket in such a manner as to effectively break the vacuum and permit the cover to be removed.

In Letters Patent No. 1,226,532, issued to me May l5, 1917, for improvements in receptacle closures, I have disclosed, in conjunction with other parts a' peripheral flange whose function and purposes are, to al greater or less-extent, to encircle the gasket and center and protect the 'same while the closure is being applied tothe jar. Il have discovered the fact that the closure may be more securely assembled if a flange be employed which is provided with indentations,

distortions, or irregularities capable of engaging with the parts of the closure in such a manner as to maintain them in assembled relation. By su'chmeans the parts are p-revented from sparating or getting disarrranged while being applied operatively upon the jar, preparatoryto putting on the screw rlng.

Other objects-and uses of the invention will appear from a detailed description of vthe same which consistsIl in the features of construction and combinations of inafter described vand claimed.

Referring to the drawing: y.Figure 1 is a perspective view ofthe upper -portion of a preserving'jar having applied thereto a closure embodying the feaparts heretures of the l'present invention;l the screw.

ring being removed; A

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged cross section through'the parts shown in Fig; 1,

the screw ring in this figure being applied to the'jar;

Fig. 3y is a'view corresponding to Fig. 1l

with the exception that the iiange for the disk is formed separately therefrom and is..

provided with -indentations orthe like for assisting in holding the-diskin place;

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding Yto 2 relating, however, to the modified arrangelment of Fig. 3; and. v

Fig. 5 1s a view corresponding to Fig. 2.

showing a still further modified construction. y

In each of the several figures the neck of lthe jar or other receptacle is designated by lthe numeral. `Ars a matter of convenience the same is shown as. being rovided with theads 7 whereby a screw ring 8- may be threaded onto the upper portion of the jar, in case lthat may be desirable.

ln the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and- 2, the closure makes use of a sealing cover in the formof a disk designated by the numeral 9. This disk which is made of any suitable material is of circular shape and is provided around its edges with a ownwardly depending flange 10. Preferably the disk, as shown in Fig. 1, is made of thin sheet metal, such, for instance," as aluml num. In the modified form ofA Figs. 3, 4,V

I prefer to provide on the upper surface of the disk an annular rib or bead 11 in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, the purpose of which will presently be explained.

Interposed betweenthe disk and the upper edge of the jar neck is a gasket 12 of rubber or other suitable material.l This gasket is placed interiorly of the fiange 10 before the disk 9 is applied to the j ar;y The gasket may be made a trifie over-size so that when forced into place inside the flange 10 of the diskit will not become displaced when the disk is beingrhandled preparatory to sealing the receptacle'. In order to facilltate the application of the disk ia screw ring 8 may be emplo ed, either temporarily-or permanently, to orcethe edge or peripherall portion of the disk down tlghtly upon the gasket 12. The screw ring may be provided with the usual threads 13 to engage with the threads 7 on the upper portlon of the receptacle andv beformed alsowith an open central portion bounded by a peripheral edge 14. When the closure has been applied in the manner described, the parts will be related somewhat as shown ,in Fig. 2. The annular rib 11 of the disk which isarranged to fit within the peripheral edge 14 of the screw ring serves to center the disk with respect to the ringiand jar, so that when the ring 'is screwed tightly upon the receptacle the disk will be properly positioned for seal- "ing the jar,.irrespeotive of 'whether or not thefiange 10 extends down suiciently to ,y fit around the upper edge of the j ar. When the peripheral portion 15 of the screw ring bears down upon thev disk, it makes a seal -between the disk and the,y receptacle through the medium of the gasket 12. If the contents of the jar are comparatively hot when the seal is formed as hereinabove described, a partial vacuum will be formed within the receptacle as its contents cool. The atmospheric pressure resultin from/ the partial vacuum that ensues within the receptacle will be sufiicient to hold the disk in lace without the aid of Vthe screw ring. hen this stage of the'sealing operation has been reached the screw ring may be removed,

ifdesired, and the jar, as shown in 1 and 3, may then be set away I ninus this Leaaaaa ing to the user, as, for example, a dozen jars of fruit may be put up daily with the use of but twelve screw rings for the entire season. This is accomplished,A by removing the screw rings which had been applied to jars sealed .the preceding day.

After the vacuum has been established, it can be easily broken by inserting a knife or other proper instrument between the gasket 12 and the peripheral portion 15 of the disk. In order to facilitatesuch a procedure, I have provided one or more slits or openings 16 in or adjacent the flange 10 permittin the knife or, other im lement used t0 e readily ,inserted theret rough, and Workedin between the peri heral por tion 15 of the disk and .the sea ing gasket s o as to break the Vacuumv Without destruction of the disk. The screw ring 8 should, of course be removed before any effort is made to msert the implement for the pur-v pose of breaking the vacuum.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is similar to that already explained, with the exce tion that the flan e 10 is formed indepe'n ently of the disk. n this construction the flange designated as 17 in Figs. 3 and 4 is formed as part of a uide ring 18` which is arranged to bverlie tie peripheral portion of the disk so as to facilitatev the application of the arts to the jar. It is to be observed that t is flanged portion 17 of the ,guide ring 18 is Iprovided with -a slit `or slot 19, and to this extent corresponds to the fiange 10 of the arrangement of Figs. 1 and 2. The essential pomt is'that the slits or slots areprovided in the fiange, re-

ardless of whether the said. flange `'loe ormed on or independently 'of the disk which serves to cover the receptacle mouth.

IIt is to, be observedthat the fiange 17 in the arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with one or more indentations or the like 2O capable of engaging with the disk 9 to hold the' same in proper assembly relation during the process of appl ing the closure to the jar or` receptacle., %Vhile I have shown the indentations 20 only on the arrangement of Figs. Band 4, it is very evidentI thatl they may be also vused in the construction'iof Figs. 1 and 2, if desired.

.mitting the disk to be inserted into position by forcing the same past the indentations 20. The guide ring With the disk secured in place may then be picked up and handled as a unit. .The gasket 12 may be attached to the disk 9, but if not it is then inserted in any convenient mannen In case"v the gasket 1.2 is not attached to the disk- 9, it

will probably be found desirable to form the gasket a trifle over-size, so that it will fit snugly Within the guide ring 18 to prevent its dropping out when the cap is handled or turned over. When assembled, the three parts, guide ring, disk, and gasket, become a unit which may be applied as one piece to the jar.

In the arrangement of Fig. 5, I have shown a disk 21 somewhatthicker than those illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, such as may be conveniently formed of porcelain or glass, although the metallic disk of Fig. 1,A made with a short flange would work as well. This disk is arranged to fit within the screw ring 8 which is formed similar to the corresponding parts illustrated in F i 2 and 4, with the exception that it is provlded with an inwardly extending indentation or protuberance 22. In assembling the parts of the closure of Fig. 5, the ldisk 21 is snapped by the indentations'22 into its nal position and there held in place by such indentations. The gasket 12 which occupies a position interiorly of the screw ring may bc made-a trifie oversize to better hold itself in place, or, if preferred, may lbe adhered to the disk. The closure just described obviously has its component parts retained in' assembled relation by the means pointed out, so that it may be handled and applied to the jar as a unit.

It will be apparent from the description of my invention and the several figures of the drawing, that the several devices which' ,I have disclosed contain numerous features of the seal may be accomplished in a simpleA manner Without the necessity of mutilatlng or destroying the disk, thereby rendering it possible to reuse it manytimes.

I claim:

A closure for a jar, comprising in combination a. disk arranged to cover the jar mouth and provided with a depending flange adapted to lie adjacent the jar neck, a gasket adapted for interposition between the disk and jar mouth, there being a slit formed in the flange adjacent the under face of the disk, whereby a wedging implement may be inserted to open up a passage between the disk and gasket, and means co-operating with the jar neck for clamping the disk and" gasket operatively upon the jar mouth, substantially as described.l

CHARLES R. KEERAN.Y

Witness j EPHRAIM BANNING. 

